The Editor,
Re. “Federal cuts hit Tri-City stream groups” (The Tri-City News, May 31).
To Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal fisheries and environment ministers:
I am disheartened.
This chopping of resources and funds is severe and painful punch in the gut of all those who have dedicated anything from a few hours to a period of several decades to keeping or making maintenance of nature’s splendour their life’s ambition and lifestyle.
First, we had a government that removed protection from tens of thousands of streams, including major salmon (and other creatures) spawning areas.
Then, industries came along that directly, and often very visibly, destroyed such areas, for dollars only.
Just a couple of years ago, we thought we elected a change to folks who promised a return to way back to better (“sunny”) days. Promises were made about protection to land, air and water, all destined to improve or restore to the healthy environment of the near past. (It would be a long way to go back to the state of our nation’s environment to historical quality like the First Nations always enjoyed and cherished.)
Today, it is difficult to know or believe where the promises of recent days will take us, and that shock will linger long with all those who have dedicated the past lives or the future careers to making life better in spite of a lack of direction from our nation’s various levels of government.
That the nation’s leadership would be so flippant with our precious Mother Earth merely to assist in lining the pockets of a few in spite of the wishes, demands and expectations of the many is pathetic. How will you explain the destruction to your grandchildren!?
There is precious little time to set our course to the right way. Please start today.
Neil Laffra, Burnaby
